The Climate Trail FOR MAC

The original Oregon Trail games were designed to teach children about the realities of life on the road in the wild west, and given their fame, they seem to have been successful. It's a tried and tested formula, so why wouldn't it be used for other purposes as well?

The Climate Trail is an attempt to make the effects of climate change more interesting and easier to understand, especially for younger audiences. The best way to teach something is to make it fun, and a survival game set in the not-so-distant future definitely sounds promising. How fun is it really?

In the worryingly-near future, the US and much of the rest of the world has become nearly uninhabitable, with precious few resources to go around and a rising air temperature that, by itself, is making survival impossible.

The only solution is to go north, and it's going to be a hell of a trip. Before setting off, you get acquainted with the three party members who will accompany you. Then, using sorghum seeds, the new currency, you can buy as much food and water as you think you will need until the next merchant crosses your path.

Yes, you can actually die of dysentery, although starvation or dehydration are much more likely to get you. The gameplay itself is pretty straightforward, with only a few ways to influence the outcome.

For starters, you can set the pace and ration your food and water based on how well your party is doing and how low your supplies are. You can find more of these in some of the cities along your path and via random events, but you'd better hope luck is on your side.

Of course, rampant global warming brings with it more extreme weather phenomena as well. You will have to deal with storms and heatwaves, and your supplies will usually be the primary factor in deciding whether to wait out the bad weather or face it head-on.

By the end of the game, I have to say I was expecting more. There is simply not enough content to make the experience very enjoyable for more than one or two playthroughs, and it is definitely not a long game.

It seems that more attention was given to the educational material included in The Climate Trail, which is very extensive and easily accessible, but the game definitely suffers for it. And it's a shame, because with a bit more content and some expanded gameplay mechanics, it could become a truly worthy successor to The Oregon Trail.